Misplaced Alternate Ending
by GingerCherry
Summary: The holder of the helmet had changed, it was now in the hands of a young boy, younger than all those present. He wasn't going to let someone lose herself, no matter the cost. He just needed to have a little faith in the team. (One-shot)


A/N: Before reading, I should tell you that there will be some dialogue and spells taken from the episode, but only a few! I'm not going to start from the beginning because it's going to repeat whatever happened.

The outcome is the same though, except Zatara doesn't become Doctor Fate in the end.

 **Disclaimer** : **I DO NOT OWN YOUNG JUSTICE OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS USED IN THIS FANFIC.**

* * *

" _It's the gem, at the center of the pentagram. Destroy it and we win._ "

The field of grain shivered from the ongoing battle between the witch boy and the young heroes, whose every attempt to bring down the former have ultimately failed thus far.

" _That's all I needed to know._ " Zatanna replied, mainly to herself, to Billy's remark. Turning to a stone, she held her palm out and began chanting, "Temleh fo Etaf, laever flesruoy!"

Within seconds, the once ordinary stone had morphed into the Helmet of Fate, something she knew as a risk. One she considered worth taking.

"No!" she could hear the pleas of her friends. "Stop!" "Don't do this!"

Taking a deep breath, Zatanna lowered the artifact over her head… or tried to.

Someone slammed into her, purposely or by accident, it didn't matter. She heard Klarion cast something before a darkness consumed her and left her unconscious. Pathetic, wasn't it?

The holder of the helmet had changed, it was now in the hands of a young boy, younger than all those present. He wasn't going to let someone lose herself, no matter the cost. He just needed to have a little faith in the team. He dragged her supine body away from the fight, which wasn't really a fight by any means.

There was no way they could hold out for much longer, let alone steal the jewel and reunite the two worlds.

 _Believe in them, Batson…_ he kept telling himself, even as he watched Aqualad faint from the prolonged exposure to the witch boy's lightning.

 _Have faith…_ Kid Flash was flung across the air, landing with a dull thud and no sign of getting back up anytime soon.

 _They can do this…_ Miss Martian screamed in pain, falling all too quickly for someone who can fly.

 _They can-_ Superboy was pinned down by the familiar, struggling to get the beast off of him alone, meaning there was no way in hell for him to avoid the full on magic attack from Klarion.

Who was he kidding, this was a personification of chaos they were dealing with, a user of strong magic. The Justice League was in another version of this world, they were by themselves. He couldn't even utilize the powers of his alter ego to assist in any way without disappearing from where he was presently. It was decided: Nabu was needed, now.

He looked at the golden helmet, then back at Zatanna. She was right in seeking the power of Dr. Fate. There was no way the team could handle magic like this on their own, and he wasn't Captain Marvel.

 _Billy Batson has the courage of Billy Batson._ he thought spitefully.

"That was it?" Klarion smiled, seemingly amused by the beaten heroes who were so hell bent on stopping him. "Boring."

Billy stayed out of sight and held the helmet close to his chest, although he knew that wouldn't work for long.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." Klarion said in a sing-song voice. Half a dozen of spellcasting orbs appeared as per his command, shooting non stop at where Billy was mere moments ago. "Found you."

The ten year old boy was running for his life, noticing the absence of the dome that shielded his opponent when he was facing the others. Now was his chance.

Without hesitation, he donned on the Helmet of Fate.

* * *

"He is but a child!"

" _A child who knew of the consequences."_

Billy opened his eyes, albeit unwillingly. The darkness was so soothing with just enough light. It didn't make sense, but then again, when did magic ever?

 _Magic, that's right!_

"Fate!" he called out.

"He's here. In fact, he's using your body right now." Billy turned to the old man, whom he hadn't realized was there. There was a sad note in his voice, he could tell. "He will defeat the witch boy, do not worry."

"Good. We could use all the help we can get."

A sharp pain stabbed through him and he felt like he was being torn apart. He was caught by the elder before he could hit the ground, stunned by the pain his body endured, even for that short time.

"Ha! There, see? When the world's divided, the helmet splits too. You're not all here, Nabu! And you are losing hold on that poor, soon-to-be-dead boy." he laughed, "He gave himself for nothing."

" _No. His degrees of sacrifice will not be in vain."_ he felt himself talking, although it wasn't just his voice that was speaking.

Outside of his mindscape, Billy could hear Klarion's sudden desperate yelps. "No. NononONONONO!" Dr. Fate summoned a golden ankh to hold him captive, the look of defeat was evident on his face.

Swiftly, he grabbed the gem from the center and proceeded his chanting. "Yam eht owt emoceb eno ecno erom!"

A brilliant glow, that would surely blind anyone foolish enough to stare, enveloped the surrounding area. As soon as it resided, Billy could see the members of the Justice League that aided from the other world.

"He did it?"

The man nodded. He looked so distant.

A short silence was shared before the man spoke up. "Nabu, you must free the boy."

" _He is different from the other two, Nelson. He harbors a strong magic that makes him a suitable vessel."_ **

"Nabu!" he protested. "He is a but a boy, a mere child! He hasn't finished his childhood, you cannot take such a person who has yet to enjoy the pleasures of his life!"

" _You think you can persuade me to release every candidate ever to don my helmet? My very anchor to this world? Clearly, you believe you can save them from me, but who is to save the world from its evils?"_

Billy listened to the man, who he figured was Kent Nelson, the previous Dr. Fate, and the voice of the Lord of Order debate. He was tired, so tired. Something like this wasn't doing him any good. He clamped his hands around his ears, trying to block out the fierce arguments on both sides.

"Great Nabu, release the boy." he heard from the material plane. Billy looked up to see Zatara with Zatanna in his arms; she was awake and did _not_ look happy. None of the team were.

" _No."_ the stern, strict voice of the Lord of Order said with finality.

"Nabu! You cannot-"

" _You have interfered far enough, Nelson. I believe it is time for you to join your wife."_ he interrupted, having the elder vanish.

"Mr. Nelson?" Billy called out questioningly. The weight of his disappearance was suddenly realized by the boy, who began to panic. He knew he could be stuck like this forever, he understood that he may never have control of his own body, he knew all of that. It's just that he didn't assume that he couldn't accept it.

" _Witness these past hours, the world needs Doctor Fate. This boy's natural affinity for the mystic arts makes him the perfect candidate."_ **

"You can't do that!" Artemis shouted.

Robin seconded it with his own exclaim of "He has his own life to live!"

"Kent would never allow you to-"

" _Kent Nelson did object, strenuously, so I released him to the afterlife."_ The look on Wally's face was a that of pure anger. _"He is gone."_

"Fate," Billy said to the voice, finally finding his own. "Please, let me out. I have responsibilities as Captain Marvel. I can't turn my back on something like that!"

" _Captain Marvel? You, a little boy, are the world's mightiest hero?"_ he countered with an edge. _"It matters not, boy."_ the last word was said as if it were something distasteful.

"Let me prove it to you." he pleaded.

The new host for Nabu was denied his request, who was dangerously annoyed by the claims he continued to make.

The people outside of his mind were also shouting in objection, none more so than Kid Flash.

"Let him go, Fate!" he demanded, as if he would do something terrible to the ancient spirit. "He's just ten years old! This isn't fair!"

The revelation of Billy's true age stunned the other Justice Leaguers; all aside from Batman, the greatest detective so to speak.

Having taken enough of the threats and accusations from the people in the field, Nabu fled.

"Billy!" someone from the team yelled. He couldn't tell who it was.

"Fate, please." he tried once more.

" _No."_

Desperation swallowed him, and in that stage of desperation, he screamed: "Shazam!" Dark clouds formed above them, the thunder rumbled though nothing more.

" _What are you doing, boy?!"_

"Shazam!" Lightning flashed across the sky. It was working, the wizard was listening, somehow.

" _Stop, before you-"_

"SHAZAM!"

The strength of Zeus' lightning caved down on them both, electrocuting the inside of the helmet in an attempt to merge with Billy. He could hear Nabu hiss in pain as he fought back to keep control over the body, an incredibly difficult feat for both sides.

The lightning made it to whatever he was stuck in (inside the helmet, as he presumed). He could feel the gods of Shazam fight with the Lord of Order, both equally matched in mental strength, only that Billy contributed to his own freedom.

Nabu's presence began to slip as the helmet took sustainable damage. As the most powerful of the enchanted items, it could not break, however this did not hold true for Nabu.

" _I concede! I will release you!"_

He was desperate for a vessel, but not so much as to use that of one who was so against his influence. This boy can make a difference in the world on his own, without his help. Nabu just had to wait for the right person to accept this responsibility and provide him their body.

Billy ushered the lightning out of the helmet's interior, the peace finally restored within. He could feel his hands reach for it and only just breathed a sigh of relief as it was removed, then he began to drop from the sky.

He hadn't realized how drained of energy he was until then. Sure, Captain Marvel may have the Stamina of Atlas, but Billy Batson did not. He blacked out before he could even say two syllables.

* * *

"He'll be alright."

"I know, but I can't help but feel-"

"Worried?"

"Yeah."

Slowly, Billy opened his eyes, blinded by the bright white lights. It was a lot less welcoming than the darkness in the helmet, despite its terrible host. _This isn't the helmet._ he reminded himself. Speaking of which:

He jolted awake, earning a yelp from Wally, who was too close to Billy and was hit in the forehead by his sudden movement. Both boys winced and pressed a hand over their temples. It was then when he began to feel the sores all over his body, like he fell from a three story building. Everything hurt.

"Wally?"

"Cap!" he smiled, showing all of his teeth.

M'gann walked over to the bed, a relieved expression clearly printed on her face. "Billy!"

"Where's the helmet?"

The two looked at each other before facing him again. It was Wally who answered, "It's in the Watchtower, safely guarded. Why?"

"It's nothing."

The room was slightly tense, and in an attempt to change it, M'gann spoke up. "Okay, um, I made snickerdoodles. Do you want some?" Miss Martian offered.

"No thanks, I'm not hungry. Thank you though."

"I'll like one." Kid Flash said in a tone more serious than Billy was used to, more than he was comfortable with. M'gann understood and left them to go to the kitchen where all of the other team members were currently.

"Billy, why did you put it on?"

"Was there even a choice?" he asked with a scoff. "All of you were knocked unconscious and I couldn't help you in any other way."

"So you sacrificed yourself? You're a kid!"

"A kid with powers to help _just_ like all of you. I'm not just some ten year old, Wally." he grimaced and laid back down, not noticing that he had sat back up in the first place. "I'm sorry I worried you all…" he added as an afterthought. He was used to apologizing, especially in front of other heroes who criticized him for being immature or childish.

Wally sighed and leaned against the edge of the bed, "Look, you saved us and, don't get me wrong, I'm grateful." he started. "It's just that… when Fate said he wouldn't let you go, I was mad. Furious. You've been out cold for over a week.

"I've only just realized that you treated me like an older brother, and indirectly, I treated you like my younger one. I couldn't bear losing you, Cap- Billy."

A silence filled the room, leaving even the quietest breeze from the vents audible.

"Try to get some more rest, I'll be going now."

"Wally, wait-" he stretched out a hand only for the speedster to close the door behind him. "A younger brother?"

* * *

"How's Captain Marvel?" Batman asked Kid Flash, looking up only briefly from his screen.

"His vitals are okay and he was awake just now. If you want to go in and-"

"No." he cut him off with his renowned monotone voice. "Prepare for a mission."

Wally looked over to the Dark Knight and frowned. Did Robin have to deal with this all the time? He was happy the Flash wasn't like that: all dark, brooding and mysterious.

"I don't think the League would be happy to find out Cap's a little kid." Robin commented just as Wally walked into the kitchen. "Hey KF, how's Billy?"

"Fine. He's fine." he said curtly, ignoring their looks as he picked up a snickerdoodle from the plate.

"That's good," Zatanna murmured, silently rubbing her arm out of a nervous habit. "I was worried he wouldn't wake up…"

"Hey, it wasn't your fault, Z." Robin was quick to say. "None of it was."

Superboy nodded in affirmation. "He's right."

"Why was the helmet even there in the first place?" Wally growled. "We could have completed the mission without it."

"Yeah, like we did before Billy put it on?" Artemis countered. "Smart guy you are."

"He got hurt. He could have _died,_ or worse yet, _taken_ by that stupid THING ON HIS HEAD!"

"Calm down, KF!" Robin jumped in.

"We cannot change the past, but we can be thankful that there was no loss." Kaldur reasoned.

"Forget it." Wally waved them all away. "We've got work to do."

* * *

 **** Because of the powers of Shazam and Billy's familiarity with magic, to some extent, Nabu considered it "mystic arts."**

 **A/N: Welp, that was fun. Thanks for reading! Please comment on what you thought of this little change for "Misplaced." I'm okay with criticisms, in fact, I welcome it. If this could have been written better, please inform me.**


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